


let me kiss you

by vonseal



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Crushes, First Kiss, Fluff, High School, M/M, No Sanha or Rocky, Romance, side myungjin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:53:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28251201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vonseal/pseuds/vonseal
Summary: bin made a face. "don't be like that. just let me kiss you, dongmin."
Relationships: Kim Myungjun | MJ/Park Jinwoo | Jin Jin, Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Moon Bin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 82





	let me kiss you

**Author's Note:**

> this is from february 1st, 2017. my very first binu. please take this while i get my act together.

Dongmin found that his popularity came at quite a high price. That high price was lack of an actual social life due to the fact that he was volunteered for practically everything in existence. The cooking club needed posters made? Dongmin was there, even if he couldn’t draw. The anime club lost their secretary for a week? Dongmin, who knew nothing about anime, filled in. Teachers wanted help carrying their papers to their car? Dongmin was the teacher’s pet, so that was no issue.

It was nice to be relied on, but it was absolutely exhausting, and sometimes Dongmin would long to be as carefree as Myungjun or Jinwoo or Sanha or basically anyone who _wasn’t_ him.

The latest quest he had undertaken was probably more time-consuming then the others, as it involved tasks that spanned multiple days.

“Stage crew?” Myungjun slurped up some noddles before continuing. “Seriously? Stage crew? _You_? Don’t get me wrong, Dongmin, you’re perfect at everything, but I have this weird feeling you know absolutely nothing about how the stage crew works.”

“And you do?”

“ _Duh_! I was made to preform, you know. Stages love me, and I love them, and so I know everything about them.”

“Your title in this play is literally _Messenger One_ ,” Jinwoo mumbled, and Myungjun smacked his shoulder.

“That’s because I didn’t realize I was up against golden child _Moon Freakin’ Bin_.”

Dongmin smiled lightly at their bickering. “I don’t think it matters, hyung.”

“Oh, it matters. I’m going to fight him for my rightful spot as main character.” Myungjun finished his meal with a dramatic swirl of his chopsticks before pushing his tray over to Jinwoo. “And you can help, Dongmin, since you’re on the stage crew now.”

“ _No_.” Dongmin was quite used to warding off Myungjun’s stupid antics, and it was basically second-nature at this point.

Myungjun was used to being told no, and he simply shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. Jinwoo?”

“I like Bin,” was Jinwoo’s answer, and Dongmin decided to take his leave before Myungjun went into one of his many rehearsed speeches about how Jinwoo shouldn’t like people who were not named Kim Myungjun.

////////////

As it turned out, Myungjun was absolutely correct: Dongmin knew nothing about how the stage crew worked. At the end of his first day, after hearing several sighs of exasperation, he was pretty sure they were only keeping him on because they were desperate.

“And because you’re beautiful,” Jinwoo had pointed out, and then Myungjun chose another speech about only calling people beautiful if they were named Kim Myungjun and Dongmin bid them both farewell (though neither heard, because Myungjun was talking a mile-a-minute, and Jinwoo was giving his usual nods and affirmations).

He always knew he looked handsome enough. He decided it wasn’t really _vanity_ if it was true. Besides, he was allowed to think himself as a good catch if everyone else could. He was also aware, however, of his place in the world, and he was completely, utterly, _fully_ aware that he looked nowhere near as perfect and handsome as the man who stole Myungjun’s spot as the lead character: Moon Bin.

They had met that first day. Bin was a year younger than Dongmin, though Dongmin surely would have mistaken him as older if he had not been told otherwise. Bin looked serious and intimidating, but the moment he smiled, Dongmin felt as if his breath was taken away. He had thin lips and his smile was crooked and such an expression created little dimples on his cheeks, and Dongmin decided that he would gladly give up his own position as _most handsome man in the school_ , because Bin was the one person who truly deserved that title.

From then on, Dongmin didn’t really mind being on the stage crew. He didn’t even mind messing up and having everyone mutter behind his backs, because it meant that Bin was going to be right near him the entire time.

He was able to learn more about Bin, too, through the set up and break down of the play sets. Bin, on his breaks, would sometimes wander backstage and help with whatever it was Dongmin was working on. Dongmin chalked it all up to boredom, but some part of him couldn’t help but wonder if Bin was _seeking_ him out. He hoped so; at the very least, he could dream, couldn’t he?

“So, what, are you the president of every single club we have here?” Bin once asked after listening to Dongmin spout off the many organizations he had become involved with just in the past year alone.

“I feel as if being the president of all of the clubs would somehow be easier,” Dongmin responded. Talking with Bin was easy and natural and he looked forward to their shared moments. “When it’s like this, I take up anything and everything all at once.”

“I noticed,” Bin responded as he hammered a nail into the wooden set. “Minhyuk said you helped with the taekwondo class once.”

“Yeah, and I don’t even _know_ taekwondo.”

“Minhyuk said that it looked like you had no clue what you were doing.” Bin was grinning again, and Dongmin had to remind his heart that it didn’t need to beat so quickly. “I guess he was right.”

Dongmin wished those moments didn’t end so suddenly. He wished he was brave enough to actually ask Bin to hang out with him _after_ the rehearsals were done for the day, but despite his confidence in offering assistance to others, he had no confidence around ridiculously cute boys.

“Man, you’re weak,” Myungjun commented as they walked home together one evening, having practiced well into the end of the day. “Just tell him that your best friend – that’s me – is leaving you all alone and you need a partner to walk you home because you’re scared of the whole _stranger danger_ thing.”

“That doesn’t sound very mature, does it?”

“No, but that’s how I caught someone as fantastic as Jinwoo.”

“Makes sense,” Dongmin mumbled, and he managed to get himself wrapped up in yet another speech. He was going to ask how many speeches Myungjun had prepared.

Being invested in how the play turned out, unfortunately, meant he was also invested in the story line. And after managing to borrow Myungjun’s script, he realized that he didn’t _like_ the story line.

“There’s a kiss scene!” he had moaned to his friends, and Jinwoo’s response was to pat his back and tell Myungjun to “shut up and stop laughing at him.”

There was nothing he could do about the kiss scene, in any case, and whining about it would only bring about more heartbreak. Instead, he watched forlornly from his spot backstage as Bin spun romantic monologues to the very lucky girl who played the love interest. They didn’t practice kissing until a week before the play, and Dongmin had the unlucky _pleasure_ of witnessing their first kiss.

He also had the unlucky pleasure of listening as Bin rambled on and on about it. “I don’t actually know _how_ to kiss a girl, I never have before, never had the need to, and would you believe that it was my real first kiss? I thought it would be more romantic.”

Dongmin’s hand slipped, and he managed to get paint all of his nice dress pants.

It seemed as if Bin’s acting was perfect – save for the kiss. For some reason, the director called _cut_ whenever Bin had to stoop to kiss the girl. “It’s not _passionate_ enough!” was always the excuse the director gave. “I need to see that you actually _love her_ , Bin!”

“But I don’t,” would always be Bin’s response, tactless and blunt and Dongmin found himself stupidly wishing to be in that girl’s spot. Even if Bin wouldn’t love _him_ , either, at least he could feel what it would be like to be kissed by him.

And despite Bin’s (apparently) terrible kissing, the day of the show came. Dongmin had fixed half of the sets by himself, and only up close could one tell how lopsided everything was. (Bin could definitely tell, and he pointed at one of the crooked fences and muttered to Dongmin, “I helped you with that one, so you can partially blame me if anyone else notices,” and Dongmin’s heart beat quickly with the close proximity.)

The first act went well enough. Myungjun embellished his lines and added a joke somehow, and Jinwoo cheered from his seat in the audience (and even though no one other than Jinwoo applauded for him, Myungjun still seemed completely satisfied). Bin was, as Dongmin expected, absolutely perfect and eloquent in his role, seemingly in his element. The words he spoke each carried a different sort of weight, and they all made Dongmin’s heart and soul feel very heavy as they stuck.

He liked to make pretend that he was the one Bin was talking to the entire time. He would _never_ admit that, however.

When intermission came, Dongmin handed out water bottles to the actors. Bin was last to receive one, and Dongmin found him sitting in the corner of the backstage area, looking rather nervous.

“Your next scene is the kiss, right?” Dongmin asked, trying to appear nonchalant about the situation.

“Ah. Yeah. The kiss.” Bin cleared his throat and didn’t quite meet Dongmin’s gaze. “I don’t think I’m prepared for it.”

Dongmin wasn’t sure on how to give advice about kissing, so he patted Bin’s leg instead. “Just take it easy. It’s not a life-or-death situation. I always thought it looked good, if that’s any consolation to you.”

Bin gave him that same, crooked smile suddenly. “It is, a little bit. You’re pretty smart, so I think you know what you’re talking about. It just – the kiss doesn’t _feel_ right.”

“Well, you don’t love her, as you said, and perhaps kisses only feel right with people you love? Or, at least, people you’re attracted to.” Dongmin nodded at his own words, certain he had given some sort of sound advice.

Bin seemed to be taking it into consideration, anyway. “I guess the kiss will feel right if I find the person attractive.”

“Probably.”

“I wish it was you I was kissing up on the stage, then.”

Dongmin was speechless. He stared over at Bin, who simply laughed and stood up to take his spot back on stage.

Did Bin find _him_ attractive? Was _that_ what Bin was saying?

Dongmin was intelligent and the top of his class, and yet Bin’s words completely muddled all thoughts and comprehension skills. He watched, still at a loss for words and expressions and feelings in general, as Bin gave that girl a kiss to the _oohs_ and _ahhs_ of the audience, and he watched as, right after the kiss, Bin sought him out and winked in his direction.

They were unable to talk right when the play ended, despite Dongmin trying to rush over to meet with Bin. It just seemed as if Bin had plenty of admirers, both family members and friends, and Dongmin was left hovering around awkwardly as he tried to find an opening.

It might have been better that his only opening came when he noticed Bin slip out into the hallway, and Dongmin followed as quickly as possible.

He nearly ran into Bin the moment he opened the doors to the hallway. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know you’d be _right_ here,” Dongmin breathed, putting a hand over his chest. “I, uh, I’m here to congratulate you.”

Bin blinked. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“And is that all?”

It was Dongmin’s turn to look confused. “Is that… _all_? What else-?”

“I thought I admitted that I wanted to kiss _you_. Unless I imagined it.” Bin screwed up his nose in concentration. “I said I wanted to kiss you, didn’t I?”

And there Dongmin’s mouth went, drying out and rendering him near speechless. “Huh?” He was usually far more eloquent than this.

“I guess I didn’t say it.”

Dongmin’s eyes were wide as he stared. “I-I think you said it.”

“Oh!” Bin was smiling once more. “Good. Because I feel like you’d want to kiss me, too.”

“You…you think I _would_?”

“I’m rephrasing that: I _know_ you would. And I’d like to say it was because I noticed it myself, but it’s actually because Myungjun has a huge mouth and told everyone yesterday that you wanted to kiss me.”

Dongmin was going to write his own speech and recite it to Myungjun a thousand times a day.

“And I think that I can disregard the kiss I had in the play, because that wasn’t a _real_ kiss, was it?”

“Was it not? It looked real. I think it really happened, Bin.”

Bin made a face. “Don’t be like that. Just let me kiss you, Dongmin.”

“Gladly, yes, please.”

//////////////////////

“I think they’re the cutest couple,” Jinwoo said dreamily, watching as Dongmin and Bin giggled and bumped foreheads with each other.

“Alright.” Myungjun pulled out a folder. “I haven’t memorized this speech yet, so let me just read it from my notes, but it’s titled, _Why You’re Wrong About That_.”

**Author's Note:**

> this initially came from my tumblr account and i've decided to post it here. its been nearly four years, whoa. its not been edited since then. 
> 
> come say hey to me on my twitter [@vonseal](http://www.twitter.com/thevonseal).


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